‘Disney Infinity’ Adding Merida from Brave [Video]

The Scottish Princess Merida from the hit Disney and Pixar animated feature Brave will serve as an upcoming addition to the immensely popular video game series Disney Infinity. Merida will be one of the first classic Disney/Pixar characters to be released after the launch of the 2.0 installment of Disney Infinity subtitled as Marvel Super Heroes.

Using actual plastic toys, Disney Infinity takes these physical figures and has a user place them on a designated base which allows them to play in the virtual game as the character represented by the toy. The practicality of such impressive technology is made possible by a sensory chip that is placed within each figure and picked up through readings coming from the base. Former games such as Skylanders also have similar technologies, but in Disney Infinity one can switch between characters immediately whereas in Skylanders that was not possible.

Merida ‘Disney Infinity’ Figure.

Princess Merida will receive her very own vinyl figure this fall when the second wave of characters for the 2.0 edition of Disney Infinity is released. Disney and Pixar fans will know Merida as one of the primary feministic forces in the modern fairytale world. Audiences saw Merida as one of the first princesses in mainstream media to break the chain of being married off to a prince in order to serve as a supporting role. The red-haired maiden would do no such thing in the movie Brave and instead followed her own personal passions and discovered a newfound love with her mother rather than the typical romantic love with a significant other.

One attribute that viewers remember well about Merida is her archery ability. In Disney Infinity, the princess will serve as the series’ second archer with the first being Hawkeye from Marvel’s Avengers. The Scottish lass will include many upgradable abilities regarding her bow and arrow that provides for an action-packed experience when taking control of the princess. Merida is one of the few princesses that serve as playable characters within the game. Others include Rapunzel from Tangled as well as Anna and Elsa from Frozen, although the latter is technically considered a queen.

The inclusion of Merida in the 2.0 edition of the game could be a very smart move on Disney Interactive’s part. As the princess may not have quite reached the popularity of the Frozen characters, Merida’s film Brave was overall received very well by audiences and critics alike. The film was composed of an all-star cast of voiceover actors including Kelly Macdonald (who serves as the voice of Merida in Disney Infinity as well), Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson. The film also received an Oscar for best animated feature film in 2013. The success of Brave has a great potential to contribute to the sales of the Merida figure as well as boosting the number of 2.0 editions of Disney Infinity that are sold.

Disney Infinity will be adding Merida from Brave to their roster beginning Nov. 4. The figure will be available at major gaming retailers and will be priced roughly around $15. A video featuring Merida’s gameplay can be viewed below.